RRND Email Full Text (Scheduled)

  • Russia: Supreme Court bars last anti-war party from elections

    Source: Washington Post

    “The Russian Supreme Court has barred the country’s last remaining anti-war party from running in parliamentary elections next month amid an intensifying crackdown on dissent over Russia’s increasingly unpopular war against Ukraine. … Yabloko, which hasn’t managed to clear the 5 percent threshold to win seats in the Duma since 2003, was seen until recently as a fringe party. But as Russians become increasingly dismayed by the expanding reach of Ukraine’s drones and the growing impact of the war on the economy, the party appeared to be gaining support. Recent polls suggested it could win 9 percent of the vote next month, the Moscow newspaper Nezavisimaya Gazeta reported. … Hundreds of supporters gathered outside the Supreme Court on Monday and chanted ‘Russia Without Putin!’ After the ruling, security forces attempted to disperse them.” [editor’s note: Russia’s Libertarian Party got suppressed in July, thus the “last” modifier for Yabloko- TLK] (08/10/26)

    https://archive.is/DCxD5

  • Trump whines some more about Iran’s surrender demands

    Source: AOL

    “President Donald Trump on Monday responded to Iran’s demand that the U.S. pay for war damages by calling on Tehran to compensate Americans and others harmed or killed by the country over the last 50 years. ‘I see that Representatives of the Islamic Republic of Iran are asking for compensation for the damage done to them during the last five month Military Conflict … even though it was never mentioned in any of our negotiations or meetings!’ Trump wrote on social media. Trump said he is now ‘likewise demanding compensation from Iran’ for Americans killed or wounded in conflicts involving Iran and Iranian-backed groups. He said the demand should be included in any future negotiations with Tehran.” [editor’s note: Apparently he still hasn’t received the “loser doesn’t set the terms” memo from his staff yet – TLK](08/10/26)

    https://www.aol.com/articles/trump-now-seeks-compensation-iran-172413000.html

  • NYC: Judge blocks implementation of pied-à-terre tax

    Source: Politico

    “A Staten Island judge issued a temporary restraining order Monday pausing Mayor Zohran Mamdani’s rollout of New York City’s new tax on second homes worth over $5 million. The ruling from Judge Wayne Ozzi came in response to a lawsuit filed Friday by New York City homeowners challenging City Hall’s administration of the surcharge. The plaintiffs, represented by former First Deputy Mayor Randy Mastro, took specific issue with the publication of more than 900,000 properties that could fall under the pied-à-terre tax, and letters to some 17,000 property owners the city suspects are actually subject to it. Under Ozzi’s order, the city must take down the public, 900,000-home list, and is prevented for the time being from taking further action based on that list or on the notices mailed to the smaller group of property owners.” (08/10/26)

    https://www.politico.com/news/2026/08/10/judge-blocks-new-york-city-pied-a-terre-tax-01031481

  • Trump signs executive order to split up MMR vaccine

    Source: Axios

    “President Trump issued an executive order Monday calling for fewer childhood vaccinations, splitting the childhood MMR vaccine into three shots and delivering vaccines at separate medical visits. The executive order states that ‘the combined MMR vaccine should be administered in three separate single-disease shots once such products are domestically available and that, to the maximum extent feasible, all childhood immunizations should be administered at separate medical visits.’ … There currently are not separate vaccines for measles, mumps and rubella. Companies would have to do clinical trials to bring each through the approval process.” (08/10/26)

    https://www.axios.com/2026/08/10/trump-order-split-up-mmr-vaccine

  • NV: Jury selection begins for ex-gang leader charged with Tupac Shakur’s 1996 murder

    Source: Reuters

    “Jury selection began on Monday in the murder trial of an ex-street ​gang leader accused of masterminding the drive-by shooting death of hip-hop star Tupac Shakur three decades ago in Las Vegas, a long-unsolved crime that became ‌a seminal moment in rap music history. Duane ‘Keffe D’ Davis, 63, is charged in Clark County, Nevada, with a single count of murder by use of a deadly weapon. He has pleaded not guilty. Davis is accused of leading a group of men to kill Shakur, 25, one of rap’s most commercially successful and influential artists, in a 1996 drive-by shooting near the Las Vegas Strip. ​He faces a potential life sentence without parole if convicted.” (08/10/26)

    https://www.reuters.com/legal/government/trial-opens-ex-gang-leader-charged-with-tupac-shakurs-1996-murder-2026-08-10/

  • Australia: “Body in suitcase” turns out to be lifelike doll

    Source: BBC News [UK state media]

    “Australian police called in to investigate a body found in a suitcase have concluded that the ‘victim’ was in fact a lifelike doll. The suitcase was discovered by two men on the side of a road near the small village of Oallen, about 230km (143 miles) south-west of Sydney. On Monday, police announced a murder investigation, sparking intense interest in the case but backtracked hours later, saying forensic testing had proved the contents were not human. The contents in the suitcase were ‘mistaken for a human originally, so they are very realistic in terms of looking like human remains,’ said Supt Linda Bradbury from the Hume Police District. ‘But we’ve confirmed by other means that they are not.’ The doll was wearing clothing, had hair and a nose piercing, police said, adding that ‘the item also had markings that resembled bruises and grazes’.” (08/10/26)

    https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/clyqg4w3gz9o


  • Rehabilitating Nixon? Not So Fast!

    Source: Libertarian Institute
    by Charles Goyette

    “There is a lot of Richad Nixon rehabilitation going on these days. Before we get too far down that road, we should note that this month marks the fifty-fifth anniversary of one of the most pernicious acts of monetary destruction by modern presidents. On August 15, 1971, President Nixon announced a sweeping set of economic policies, his eerily Soviet-sounding ‘New Economic Policy.’ Today’s sympathy for the thirty-seventh president has something to do with a welcome recognition of the Deep State’s hand in his removal from office.” (08/10/26)

    https://libertarianinstitute.org/articles/rehabilitating-nixon-not-so-fast

  • Brexit and Its Discontents

    Source: Independent Institute
    by Carl Schramm

    “To most Americans, the momentous event ten years ago when Britain voted to leave the European Union seems a lesser curiosity when compared to, say, the fall of the Berlin Wall. Few Americans understand the real struggle to compose an economic union among Europe’s many nations that had for hundreds of years shown a distinct proclivity to war with each other. Twice, America had [sic] to enter global conflicts that were triggered by Germany’s belligerence toward its immediate neighbors.” (08/10/26)

    https://www.independent.org/article/2026/08/10/brexit-discontents/

  • Ain’t democracy wunnerful?

    Source: The Price of Liberty
    by Nathan Barton

    “We are constantly told that democracy is the worst form of government… except for all the rest. We are constantly told that in a true democratic scheme of government, minority rights are protected against the tyranny of the majority. We are also told that representative democracy is one of the best forms of democracy because we can elect and empower men and women who can concentrate on the matters and decisions facing our polity – town, county, tribe, State, etc. – and make wise decisions. We are told that fears of corrupt elections, vote-buying, fake voters, fraud, and all the rest of the limpets on the hull of democracy can be and are controlled. Especially now that we have electronic voting and counting systems and because we have a watchful, vigilant press and courts and all the trappings that are wrapped around modern democracy. But what have we seen?” (08/10/26)

    https://thepriceofliberty.org/2026/08/10/aint-democracy-wunnerful/

  • The romance of fair use and fiction

    Source: Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression
    by Ally Duong

    “‘Romantasy’ is a genre marriage of romance and fantasy that has been selling books like wildfire. And this year, your local bookstore’s romantasy section is likely lined with covers featuring a curly-haired brunette heroine next to a suave, silver-haired hero–all because fans who saw what an author couldn’t see decided to write stories about a couple that never came to be. … The attraction for publishers is obvious: a popular fanfic may arrive with a ready-made audience and social-media buzz. But that shift raises a serious legal question: What must an author change before an unauthorized derivative work becomes an independent — and lawfully marketable — novel?” (08/10/26)

    https://www.fire.org/news/romance-fair-use-and-fiction

  • What Research from Boston Zoning Can Teach Chicago

    Source: Cato Institute
    by Jeffrey Miron

    “To economists, America’s housing crisis — in the form of high prices — is no surprise. For years, lawmakers have distorted the market through zoning laws that restrict new building and limit housing density. More recently, however, cities around the United States have been working to loosen restrictive zoning codes to increase housing supply. Chicago, meanwhile, has so far kicked the can down the road on zoning reform.” (08/10/26)

    https://www.cato.org/commentary/what-research-boston-zoning-can-teach-chicago

  • The Socialist Surge Revives Failed and Hateful Ideas

    Source: Reason
    by JD Tuccille

    “As democratic socialists in general and the DSA in particular take over the Democratic Party, it’s worth examining the positions they take, the enemies they pick, and who supports them to see what they have in store for us as they seek to remake the country. … Given that the rise of the DSA is likely rooted in disillusionment and resentment, it may be a losing proposition to point out that socialism’s nostrums are nonsense. Still, we need to emphasize that free-market [sic] capitalism is good and contributes to liberty and prosperity while socialism does the opposite.” (08/10/26)

    https://reason.com/2026/08/10/the-socialist-surge-revives-failed-and-hateful-ideas/

  • Eurotrash and Holy Water

    Source: Underthrow
    by Max Borders

    “It’s called the Fourth Political Theory (4PT for short). It’s gotten the Russian philosopher Aleksandr Dugin two major fans among throngs of minor ones. The first is Vladimir Putin. The second is Tucker Carlson. Each, in his own way, is important. But together, the three make for a subversive head-heart-gut triad: Dugin the thinker, Carlson the relator, and Putin the muscle. Much like the social justice left with its beachhead in the academy, these three are propagating their own form of ideological imperialism online. But don’t call it right-wing. Like most positions these days, 4PT defies a linear spectrum, despite the parrots of the progressive media calling him ‘far-right.’ Instead, Dugin searches through the ruins of history to put together pieces of something new.” (08/10/26)

    https://underthrow.substack.com/p/eurotrash-and-holy-water

  • Unhappy Anniversary

    Source: Ron Paul Liberty Report
    by Ron Paul

    “This month marks 55 years since President Richard Nixon closed the ‘gold window,’ severing the last link between the US dollar and gold. Under the 1944 Bretton Woods agreement, foreign countries pegged their currencies to the US dollar, which was then pegged to a fixed value of gold. Foreign countries could exchange their dollars for gold at a rate of 35 dollars per ounce. … Closing the gold window left the US with a pure fiat currency. The results have been disastrous. The dollar has lost over 97 percent of its purchasing power since the Federal Reserve was created in 1913, with most of the dollar’s decline occurring since 1971.” (08/10/26)

    http://www.ronpaullibertyreport.com/archives/unhappy-anniversary

  • America vs. the MAGA-Industrial Complex

    Source: Antiwar.com
    by Jason Jones

    “Have you seen the ruling classes’ latest ploy for holding onto power rather than allow the public to hold them accountable through straightforward and honest elections? It’s clear as day to anyone with eyes to see. And the fact that the powerful now operate as much within the ‘MAGA’ brand as in the Democratic establishment shouldn’t blind us. If we let it, then even some of the best of us will soon be taken in – becoming useful idiots for the same ruling classes that the MAGA movement was founded to oppose. I’m referring to the new game of stirring up hatred against our neighbors of Middle-Eastern and Eastern heritage and labeling all dissenters against U.S.- and Israeli-led wars and war crimes as ‘radicals’ and ‘communists.'” (08/10/26)

    https://original.antiwar.com/jason_jones/2026/08/09/america-vs-the-maga-industrial-complex/

  • The tactic of AOC and her allies to giggle away the “craziness” of Woke-era abuses should not be tolerated

    Source: Glenn Greenwald
    by Glenn Greenwald

    “Many Democratic Party candidates emerging on what one might call the populist left are finding success in primaries across the country. But most of them have a shared liability: they were fully on board with the worst excesses and abuses of the ‘peak wokeness’ that emerged in the wake of George Floyd’s 2020 killing, enduring and contaminating most of our institutions for several years after. … AOC, who herself aggressively advocated those policies, sought to laughingly dismiss this all as just some momentary, harmless frenzy of ‘craziness’ that never really meant much and that everyone has all just agreed to move beyond …. It is, I suppose, a net positive that those who imposed extremist woke dogma are now too embarrassed to defend it. … But when AOC tries to giggle her way out of her behavior and the behavior of her allies, it actually is more offensive and cowardly than anything else.” (08/10/26)

    https://greenwald.substack.com/p/the-tactic-of-aoc-and-her-allies

  • Democrats no longer have the No. 1 weapon to keep their socialist wing in line

    Source: Fox News
    by Tom Del Beccaro

    “American politics is an ever-changing game of power and big money. For the modern Democrat Party, that means being challenged and sometimes eclipsed by the Democratic Socialists of America (DSA) – and there is little to nothing the Democrat Party can do about its rise. The United States has had many political parties in its history. They include everything from the Federalists (1789) and the Whig Party (1830) to the Libertarian Party (1971) and the Green Party (2001). The current Democrat Party (1828) is the longest reigning major political party in American history. The role of the many lesser-known parties in American history has been to chasten the then-dominant parties and/or to champion particular issues – such as the Greenback Party (1874), which fought for paper money in the late 1800s. While that Greenback Party is no more, paper money has replaced gold as the dominant American currency.” (08/10/26)

    https://www.foxnews.com/opinion/democrats-no-longer-have-no-1-weapon-keep-their-socialist-wing-line

  • D’ye mean people queue for below market price items?

    Source: Adam Smith Institute
    by Tim Worstall

    “Isn’t this a shock to everything we know about human nature? ‘In a speech on June 29, delivered before he won the Labour leadership unopposed, Burnham connected the loss of 1.5 million council homes with the increase, to a similar number, of families on the waiting list for social housing. Many, he said, had waited more than 10 years for a home.’ A council house is substantially cheaper – to the tenant – than any other form of housing. People are willing to queue for 10 years to gain something below market price, are they? Isn’t that a shock to everything we know about humans. They’ll be predicting queues at the start of the New Year sales next.” (08/10/26)

    https://www.adamsmith.org/blog/dye-mean-people-queue-for-below-market-price-items